Ukraine to participate in peace talks 'one way or another', says Kremlin

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that Ukraine would participate "one way or another" in any talks to end the war, but there would be a separate U.S.-Russian track to the talks, Russian state news agency TASS reported.

Another agency, Interfax, quoted Peskov as saying that preparation for a meeting between presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump could take up to several months, but both sides agreed the Saudi capital Riyadh was a suitable location.

Trump and Putin spoke for over an hour on Wednesday, the first known direct contact between US and Russian presidents since Putin had a call with Joe Biden shortly before sending his army into Ukraine in February 2022.

On Thursday, the Kremlin said it was impressed by Trump's position on ending the war in Ukraine, and that preparations were under way for a meeting between Trump and Putin.